MADRID Ė Spainís Senate was debating on Wednesday an amendment to legislation that could enable some 100,000 citizens with intellectual disability to cast their vote in elections from 2019 onwards.

The reform, which observers expected to be passed unanimously, comes after years of lobbying by an NGO: the Spanish Committee representing handicapped persons Cermi, which defends the interests of 3.8 million people and the umbrella organization behind 8,000 national associations fighting for their disabled member`s rights.

According to Cermiís website, the Senate vote was registered for its fast-track vote by the conservative Popular Party in Oct., after the Lower House of Parliament unanimously approved to amendment, reforming Article 3 of the Spanish electoral law.

The law enables a judge to decide whether a disabled person under judicial custody can vote or not.

The Lower-House vote was witnessed from the guestís gallery by Cermiís president, Luis Cayo Perez Bueno, after years spent fighting for this long-due legislative reform.

Spainís 100,000 citizens judicially deprived of their voting rights due to intellectual disability or cognitive illness meant they could neither vote nor be voted into public office.

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